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Range of Airtags

bmodi

bmodi

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 8, 2015
66
30
Germany
The range is disappointing. Outside 7-10m.
Inside I need to be in the same room to get my iphone to find the Airtag.
also find my network….tried to use it….my wife walked away with the Airtag……after 25min the first actualization….but lots of people, so iPhones should have been around….
No chance to use them to find people. Range much too small. These are my first impressions…..I am a bit disappointed 😟
 
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bmodi said:
The range is disappointing. Outside 7-10m.
Inside I need to be in the same room to get my iphone to find the Airtag.
also find my network….tried to use it….my wife walked away with the Airtag……after 25min the first actualization….but lots of people, so iPhones should have been around….
No chance to use them to find people. Range much too small. These are my first impressions…..I am a bit disappointed 😟
Click to expand...
Do you have to utilize "Lost Mode" to activate the iPhone sourcing to find your tag?
 
bmodi said:
The range is disappointing. Outside 7-10m.
Inside I need to be in the same room to get my iphone to find the Airtag.
also find my network….tried to use it….my wife walked away with the Airtag……after 25min the first actualization….but lots of people, so iPhones should have been around….
No chance to use them to find people. Range much too small. These are my first impressions…..I am a bit disappointed 😟
Click to expand...
Range is about 15 feet in my condo making it poor for finding lost objects. The Tile Pro on my wife’s key can be located even when on another floor. Disappointed.
 
Locating fine across multiple floors here. Even from outside the brick building
 
bmodi said:
so iPhones should have been around….
Click to expand...

an iPhone must be running 14.5 or later in order to help find your tag.
If people haven't updated iOS in the last few days, then they're no help in finding your tag
 
Just got my 4 pack today, and I’m pretty disappointed with the range so far compared to my two tiles one on a key chain And a thin title for my wallet. I put my wallet upstairs in the gameroom with both the airtag and tile inside of it, and the tile did a better job of locating itself in relation to my iPhone ping downstairs and the tone is louder and longer making it easier to find the tile. Ill have to keep field testing these things and see if theyre worth the switch with gen 1, but so far the tile might be better for what i primarily use the tags for which is finding my lost keys/wallet.
 
Steve686 said:
When you say, “range”, are you referring to when the AirTag can merely receive a signal or when directional tracking becomes active?
Click to expand...
Beyond 15 feet Find My says the signal is too weak and to walk around. The Air Tag does not chirp. I’m not a Tile fan but it emits a sound when much further away.
 
Early days, but not overly impressed so far to be honest. I live in a modern house, so no thick walls or anything, and the range within the house seems pretty poor.

Also, the NFC doesn't seem great either, unless I'm doing something wrong. I tried the Airtag against my own phone (12 Pro Max) and my son's phone (iPhone XS), and it seemed very hit or miss as to whether it would actually ping up the message on screen or not. Almost was making me think that if a stranger picked one up and tried it against their phone, they might just assume it was broken.
 
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Ok, so I'm confused. I thought these used the Find My network, so shouldn't you be able to track things even miles away that have an AirTag on them? I must be missing something here.

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That’s not good, I was considering getting a couple but I’m glad that I held off. Be ok attached to my spectacles as long as they were in the usual place when I can’t find them, on top of my head 😁
 
usagora said:
Ok, so I'm confused. I thought these used the Find My network, so shouldn't you be able to track things even miles away that have an AirTag on them? I must be missing something here.
Click to expand...
The tags alone do nothing other than broadcast a tiny signal. They have no GPS chip, and they have no other location aware capabilities. They rely effectively on the charity of iOS 14.5+ devices walking by them to help them be found. But they aren't doing this ALL the time. As best I understand it, the tag has to be in the "Lost" state for the broader world to be called into action. But even then, unless another iOS 14.5 device crosses its path, you get no data (which is why putting it on a pet isn't ideal... if pet wanders off the beaten path where no iPhones would go, you'll never get a location).

Localization for items misplaced your home will depend heavily on Apple's antenna design in the tag. It's definitely not like Tile... in the AirTag case, basically you'll just wander from room to room until UWB can take over and provide the arrow. But once that happens, it's super accurate.
 
Had mine on my outside cat for the last few hours and been watching the Find My app for updates. Every 10 minutes or so it’s been updating his location at a different street as he wanders around. Seems to be doing better than my Tile did so far.
 
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In notifications , Notify when found is greyed out. How can it be turned-on ?
Nevermind , I found the answer.
 
Last edited:
To be clear - the UWB range is what most are talking about here, and it's not great in my experience so far.

It does tell me it's close at hand (likely BT), and it can connect at reasonable distances (again, likely BT), but I have to be perhaps 10-15 feet from the AirTag for position tracking to start.

I give it a small bonus point for telling me the item is probably on a different floor or level, but I have to subtract that point for not telling up or down.
 
Did a view more test and have to say that I am really disappointed. Waited so long and now……the range is really bad. I mean, I need to be around 4-5 meters close to the Tag to get the signal. No idea what I should say…..this is just disappointing 😪. If I come that close without the help of the tracker in most cases I will not need it anymore at all.
 
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yeah my initial range isn't fantastic. perhaps 30 ft through walls? that isn't that much, it means it occasionally will see a tag when i'm in an adjacent room but say "signal weak" but if i'm 2 rooms away it doesn't see the tag at all. it doesn't start "pointing" until i'm in the same room. that likely obviously means if "lost" outside the home you will need another ios device to come within just feet of it before it gets marked on a map.

i don't have experience with tile, this is my first tracker, but it seems the tile pro has significantly further range, however the global network is MASSIVELY smaller than the ios find my network so its a mixed bag. all in all, i'm happy, but it isn't some miracle device for $25.
 
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